# What This Bill Does: A Tax on Foreign Purchases of American Farmland

This bill would create a new 60 percent tax on anyone from certain countries who buys agricultural land or farming operations in the United States. The goal is to prevent foreign governments and their citizens—particularly from countries considered threats to U.S. national security—from acquiring control of American farmland.

The bill specifically targets people and companies from countries listed as "countries of concern," which include China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. If someone from one of these countries (or a company controlled by them) buys farmland in America, they'd have to pay a 60 percent tax on top of the purchase price. For example, if a Chinese company tried to buy a $10 million farm, they'd owe an additional $6 million in taxes. The bill also applies to entities that are at least 10 percent owned by people or companies from these countries, though the tax gets reduced proportionally if foreign ownership is less than 50 percent.

There's an important exception for large, publicly traded American companies. If a major corporation listed on a U.S. stock exchange buys farmland, even if some shareholders are from countries of concern, the tax wouldn't apply—as long as those foreign shareholders don't control the company. This protects mainstream investment funds and retirement accounts that might have some foreign ownership.

The bill also requires real estate professionals—lawyers, title companies, and sellers—to report these transactions to the government and collect information about foreign buyers. Anyone buying farmland would need to sign an affidavit stating they're not a disqualified foreign buyer, or the transaction gets reported to tax authorities. Failure to properly report these deals could result in penalties.